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Illegal Immigrants are everywhere in the news right now, however, do we really talk about them in a manner that shows how their struggles impact our lives? When we say our lives, we include Europe and North America. Europe struggles extensively with refugee claimants, and the United States struggles with illegal migrants crossing the border. Unfortunately, politicians and newspapers sugarcoat some of these issues as they can be inflammatory to many, depending on how the issues are presented. Racism is a word that always rears its ugly head, and since Muslim Terror Groups have declared war on the west, governments in the west need to protect Muslim citizens from being vilified while they protect their citizens at the same time. Since most illegal immigrants enter the USA from Mexico (although they are not all Mexicans), Mexicans and Latinos also need a little protection from inflammatory actions in North America as well, while the flow of illegals has to be stemmed at the same time. All of these issues affect citizens just as much as immigrants and refugees.

No one can escape the harm that very few radical Muslims are causing in Europe and North America. However, is it really prudent not to say that there are Jihadists among the legitimate refugees entering our countries just so we don't offend a sector of the population? Is it really prudent not to talk about those illegal immigrants coming in from the Mexican border in both a negative and positive light even though many of them can harm us? This article openly discusses those issues stemming from illegal immigration that many of us are afraid to talk about in public for fear of being labelled a racist. This is not about legal immigrants. I am a child of immigrants and was once an immigrant myself. Those who want to seek out a better life, should be applauded and welcomed when they come in legally and are needed. Those who escape war should also be welcomed. Those few who want to cause us harm need to be stopped.

15 There Are Bad Guys Among Refugee Claimants That Want Us Dead

www.dailymail.co.uk

We will start with illegal refugees in Europe and end our article with illegal immigrants from Mexico. There is a reason why governments investigate refugee claimants. Some applicants are lying and some are dangerous. As an example, back in November 2015, Paris was the scene of a plethora of terrorist bombings that killed 130 people. In 2015, Greece processed 850,000 of all 1.3 million refugee claimants in Europe. Thus French authorities sent fingerprints from some of the accused, holding Syrian passports to the Greek government for verification. The Greek minister for citizen protection, Nikos Toskas, said one of the men had been registered on the Greek island of Leros in October. "We confirm that the (Syrian) passport holder came through the Greek island of Leros on October 3 where he was registered under EU rules," he said in a statement. It was also later confirmed that the mastermind behind the attacks in 2015, Abdelhamid Abaaoud (pictured above), also came to Europe, through Greece with other Syrian refugee claimants.

14 Ignorance Is Not Bliss

www.express.co.uk

In September of 2015, Greece's junior minister for migration Yiannis Mouzalas, was quoted as saying that it would be "foolish" to think that jihadists are not sneaking into Europe among the refugees. Despite evidence to the contrary German intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maassen, stated at the same time that: “It’s possible that terrorists are coming among the refugees, but we don’t think it is very likely.” The politically correct version was wrong. German officials later recanted this statement admitting that jihadists are among the refugees. Denying that there are terrorists among jihadists is the norm because most officials want to ease public fears and hatred towards Muslims. Unfortunately the truth came out as Germany alone has stopped multiple terror threats this year, with a number of suspects pretending to be refugees. One such incident occurred in June. Data is lax about how many jihadists are among the refugees, though.

13 The EU Can't Track Illegal And Legal Immigrants Who Are Terrorists

www.sigmalive.com

Another thing to be worried about is the fact that as of last year, Europol (Organization that polices European borders) had only registered 2,000 of 5,000 suspected jihadists who traveled to Syria. Meaning that 3,000 Jihadists could have slipped through the cracks when they returned home because authorities in countries like Greece, can only compare people to information contained in criminal databases. That number of 5,000 typically represents native Europeans trained in Syria, and usually does not include terrorists among refugees. Imagine how many illegal refugees can slip through the cracks from the 1.3 million refugees that came last year alone, if Europe doesn't keep track of the jihadists it knows about. Real refugees suffer because of improper government responses, as they get blamed when terror strikes even though it is not their fault. Keep in mind that there are only 5,000 known jihadists in a region more populous than the USA. That number will keep growing though, and there is always the fear of the unknown.

12 Humanitarian Costs To Real Refugees

www.estrelladigital.es

No one can deny the hardships that refugees go through to make it to Europe. Many of them die trying. However once they get to Europe, fear places extra hardships on these true refugees. Fear is not all about racism, after all Islamic groups declared war on the west (hence we are at war), and since most of these refugees are Muslim that come from the same countries as these war mongers, people have a legitimate right to be concerned. It is how they react that sets them apart, and unfortunately legitimate refugees suffer.

Out of fear, Northern European countries which border Greece do not allow refugees in. Luckily for refugees, Greece does not close its borders and doesn't let fear guide its policies. Unluckily for refugees, Greece (which processes 65% of refugees) is not equipped to handle all of them alone, and Northern Europeans do not pay for their fair share of the responsibilities forcing the refugees to live in less than stellar conditions until they find their permanent home. About one-third of refugees end up permanently in Germany where they pay their taxes and work, thus propping up the German economy. Before they go to Germany these refugees land in Greek tourist zones, the last remaining lifeline in the country containing the EU's poorest and hardest working citizens. They are taken care of here. The United States and Canada combined process fewer refugees in a year than a small country like Greece processed in a month.

11 Illegal Refugees Can Finally Be Contained

www.ekathimerini.com

Earlier this year Europeans played the blame game on illegal refugees and as usual, the blame fell on Greece for just about everything, and as usual the EU threatened them with this or that. Greece responded to the criticism, insisting that measures need to be taken to ensure that Turkey fulfills its commitments to the deal it made with the EU in November of 2015. There is one country where all illegal refugees come from; Turkey. We are not here to judge other deficiencies of the Turkish government, however the Turkish Government does generously house millions of refugees from everywhere in the middle east, not just Syria. No other sizable Middle Eastern country does that. In fact all other affluent middle-eastern nations close their borders to refugees. Since Turkey is not rich, the refugees who stay there do not live in the greatest of conditions either, which is one major reason that prompts them to escape from these camps.

Turkey has been rightfully waiting for the money the EU promised in 2015, in order to help stop the flow of refugees into Greece. Turkish leaders were smart enough to play the waiting game until they finally received the free money previously promised to them along with even more free money in a new deal struck earlier in 2016. The new EU-Turkey agreement is working as Greece only received 8,000 refugees in the last quarter, down from 150,000 the quarter before that. Hopefully this will help background checks and improve the threat from illegal refugees in Europe. As for the legal refugees themselves, they should be profiled less once they are cleared to land in Europe. Once again one country has proven to have the right solution while the main EU powers came up short. No wonder the UK exited the free trade zone of a trade union much too slow to act, and too quick to lay blame on others.

10 1o. Terror From Overseas Does Strike Canada And The United States, Make No Mistake

www.ctvnews.ca

Northern Europeans have finally woken up about illegal refugees, but our governments in North America still like to insist that all refugees that come over here are legitimate, and they do not pose a threat. Once again, only a minute number can pose a threat. We will concentrate on Canada, as we all know what goes on in the USA thanks to this election. In 2014 two separate gunmen, recruited and potentially trained by ISIS, shot and killed Canadian Soldiers, one in Ottawa (The Capital) and two in a Montreal suburb. Numerous terror plots have been foiled by the RCMP (an organization similar to the FBI) as well.

What does the newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, think about terrorists coming in among the refugees? He was asked the following question by CBC a few months ago; “Would you be just as comfortable if there was a terrorist attack carried out by someone who came in as a refugee?” His response, “Ultimately, being open and respectful towards each other is much more powerful as a way to defuse hatred and anger, than layering on big walls and oppressive policies.” It's always interesting when people avoid answering a question directly. Is this the only answer that will stop illegal refugees from coming in hoping to establish a universal Islamic caliphate? A whole article can be made on what the Prime Minister says and what he actually does or doesn't do on these issues.

9 No Excuse For Illegal Refugees

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It has already been proven that Illegal immigration is one way terror groups get their fighters to the west. There should be nothing wrong with paying extra special attention to Muslim refugees, either. In the past people were investigated for communist ties. At that time many communists were white, hence immigrant white folk from communist hotbeds got profiled. This is not racism, it is diligence because we are at war now, just as we were at war then. Some people believe that if we eliminate western interference and change US foreign policy, recruitment will stop. Without this type of ammunition, these terror groups will still be able to recruit. If you are a Muslim living in their lands and you don't side with them, they kill you. If you are not a Muslim they kill you right away. That is their powerful recruitment policy. They can also point to our wasteful ways in comparison to their overall poverty. The list of recruitment techniques goes on and on. All they want is to spread Islam by the sword. It will take centuries for the west to correct all its wrongs and the east to correct theirs. Solutions need to be a little quicker.

Terror is a growing threat, and the potential of illegal refugees who are terrorists is a legitimate concern. In a time of war, if an illegal refugee strikes it will be hard for governments to promote restraint. Having said that, a government that gives into this fear is dangerous. Enacting secular hate laws against religious practices, like the ones Quebec (a French province in Canada) tried to pass and the ones France is trying to pass, have a negative effect on everyone. A full bodied swimsuit did not kill those people in France a few weeks back. In Quebec they even wanted to ban all government workers, including teachers and doctors from wearing crosses because even these religious symbols were deemed offensive. This would have passed had the government not lost the next election. In the end everyone's religious freedoms are compromised if we ban the Muslim faith or its practices, which is why extra attention needs to be spent weeding out illegal refugees from these lands that are attacking us.

7 Illegal Immigrants in the USA - Money Lost From Those Who Do Not Pay Taxes

www.californialatinas.org

We move onto illegal immigrants crossing into the United States. In January of 2016, there were 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, only half of whom are from Mexico and one quarter from the remaining Latin American countries. This number hasn't changed much in years. There is a growing debate about how much taxes illegal immigrants pay. Based on data from the The Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, only half to three quarters of Illegal immigrants pay taxes. So right away, one quarter half of all income taxes are gone. One third of illegal immigrants do pay property taxes as they are homeowners, so the government gets money there.

Illegal immigrants do contribute $12 billion into the various government tax coffers. Their median income is estimated at $30,000, less than the $54,000 average American makes. However, the $30k is an estimate and the actual number could be significantly different. Obviously illegal immigrants make less as most of them work in lower paying professions, with lower salaries than their legal counterparts. Of course governments miss out from the 25-50% of illegal immigrants that don't pay taxes.

There are so many questions to ask concerning this study though. Why is the range of taxpayers who are illegals so large at 50%-75%? Shouldn't the value be a little more accurate if data really existed for such a study? Another question to ask is if governments know that these people are illegal and can track that they are paying taxes, then why are they not being caught and deported? There are more questions to be asked. How can an illegal immigrant buy a home? Immigration status is one of the questions asked by any mortgage or refinancing application and it should be verified. A long term Visa (H1 or Green Card) is required to buy a home. Many Mexicans and Canadians can work on a short term TN Visa. So where are these figures coming from? Or is the government that lax about catching illegals?

The study claims that the effective tax rate of all illegals is 8%, meaning each illegal roughly pays $240 in taxes. This amount of 8% is more than the 6.4% effective tax rate calculated by CNN Money for all citizens earning this same amount, but less than the 20% that millionaires pay as estimated by this same CNN Money study. Unlike CNN, the ITEP white paper claims that the top 1% pay an effective tax rate of 5.4%. So where does ITEP get their number for the top 1%?

Hence Republicans are right when they state that the government loses significant revenue from illegal immigrants. They are not correct in stating that they provide no revenue though. Democrats claim that illegals do pay taxes, when half do not. Hence as always the truth lies somewhere in between. Another way to put it is that the conclusions drawn from this study depend on whether you see the glass as half empty or half full.

We always hear the argument that no one will take an illegal immigrant's job, because no American wants these jobs. That may not be the case, because many illegal immigrants actually do work in high paying jobs that people want. Admittedly though, a majority occupy lower paying professions according to data from the Federal Government and Pew Research. If one considers just the unemployed in the country, the USA truly does not have enough workers to fill the lowest paying jobs of illegal immigrants. However, there are far too many Americans working part time (approximately 40% of adults in 2016) and many more who dropped out of the labor force completely. These people would definitely benefit from a vacated full time job right now if all illegal immigrants are slowly kicked out of the country.

Note that not all part-time workers want full-time jobs but there are around 60 million part time workers in the USA and 11 million illegal immigrants (not all of whom are working adults). There are plenty of legal immigrants as well, who want these jobs. So who's to say that deporting them will cause economic catastrophe? Maybe these jobs can be filled by legal workers. There is not one single government study out there that indicates whether there are enough Americans that would be able to fill the jobs vacated by illegal immigrants. Hence neither the right nor the left have a stranglehold on this issue.

5 Illegal Immigrants Help Propel Criminal Organizations

www.cnn.com

Smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border is leading to increased gang violence and increased cartel/drug smuggling activity according to the FBI. The House Committee on Homeland Security also released this bit of troubling news back in 2011: "Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials are observing a growing nexus between the Mexican drug cartels, illegal alien smuggling rings, and US-based gangs. The alien smuggling networks that operate along the Southwest border are unable to move human cargo through drug cartel controlled corridors without paying a fee. The typical Mexican illegal alien now pays approximately $1,200 to $2,500 for entry into the United States. The fee is considerably higher for aliens smuggled from countries other than Mexico, which may even be more alluring for the cartels. It is estimated that criminals earn billions of dollars each year by smuggling aliens through Mexico into the United States." Give Donald the victory on this issue.

4 Pardoning All Illegal Immigrants Or Kicking Them Out

www.breitbart.com

People who side with the Democrats on illegal immigration feel that some form of pardon for those working illegally makes more sense. Barack Obama released an immigration plan which the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) said would boost economic output by an estimated 0.4 to 0.9 percent over ten years, corresponding to increases in GDP of $90 billion to $210 billion in 2024. See the White House link in the sources section for details on the plan. Despite this initiative, even Obama has stepped up deportations come election time.

Donald Trump can obviously not tell us the cost benefits of kicking everybody out and bringing them back legally, or whatever plan he has. It is all a theory in the works. But one thing that no one mentions about pardoning everyone is the cost associated when lawyers convince enough legal immigrants to sue the government in order to get compensated for the extra costs they incurred and taxes they paid by doing things legally. Not everyone will accept an illegal immigrant getting a free ride to a green card and citizenship. Also there is the legal precedent to consider for future illegals. Until Donald has a firm study in his hands though, Democrats have a slight edge on this issue.

3 Illegal Immigrants Cost Money

immigrationreform.com

Another hot issue concerns how illegal immigrants supposedly milk the system without paying into it. It has already been shown using government data that illegal immigrants do not pay their fair share into the system, as half do not pay income taxes. So how much do illegal immigrants get out? The government does not have a study that provides such an answer. We have to put it together using little bits of info here and there. On one single issue, unaccompanied teens (illegal immigrant teens that cross the border without adults), Obama had budgeted $1.3 billion in 2016 to help out an estimated 70,000 teenagers expected to cross the border this year.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were an estimated 5.1 million children under 18 that were raised by illegal immigrants in the USA between 2009 and 2013. Of those, 4.1 million are US Citizens, leaving roughly 1 million illegal children. It is hard to determine the amount that various levels of government spend on raising a single child, but the Brookings Institute calculated this to be $9,000 per child per year in 2004. Which means that a vastly underestimated amount of roughly $9 billion is spent by various levels of government, every year on illegal children.

There were also 4.1 million children born to illegals living in the USA between 2009 and 2013. These legal children raised by illegals potentially cost the taxpayer $36 billion to take care of. Of course these children will someday pay taxes and work. Government stats show that illegals only contribute $12 billion to government coffers. It is not that hard to see that even with these rough calculations, when one also adds the other expenses incurred by 11 million people, illegals cost the taxpayer loads and loads of money. The Republicans have a major victory on this one. Other things to consider are the benefits to employers.

2 Governments Hide Crimes By Illegal Immigrants

via:ice.gov/removal-statistics

The Federal Government does not keep track of crime statistics for illegal or legal immigrants. Some states, including California (as of 2013), no longer keep track of an incarcerated criminal's citizenship. California has the most illegals in the country. Normally criminals who are illegal (or even legal immigrants) are deported. The only stats we have from the Federal Government concerning crime from immigrants, comes from the US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) division. According to them, deportations of illegal and legal immigrants who are criminals dropped drastically in 2015. This government website clearly states that one of three reasons why this number dropped is because the feds rely on cooperation from State Governments in order to determine criminals who are illegal immigrants and State Governments aren't fully cooperating.

This is such a problem that according to the ICE website, "To further build on the prioritization of convicted criminals and enlist the support of the many state and local jurisdictions that were not cooperating with ICE, DHS ended Secure Communities and replaced it with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP).'' Hence there are no accurate criminal figures for immigrants and illegal immigrants to go by because various levels of government will not release or track this information. However, it is only logical that people who want to perform illegal things or want to hide their criminal past, go through illegal routes. Republicans own this issue, partly because governments are hiding data for a reason.

1 Illegal Immigrants Make People Want To Build Walls

defense-update.com

We all know about the wall. However, would we even talk about it if we curbed illegal immigration? As of today some portions of the Mexico-US border already have a symbolic fence which does nothing. Drones are currently deployed as well, but somehow they are not effective. In 2016, the Federal Government is implementing a new border detection system called the IFT which includes a system of cameras created by Israel's Elbit Systems. Israel already deploys this system along its borders with Gaza and Palestine. Elbit's system is so specific that it can determine whether an individual is carrying a backpack or a long-arm weapon. According to border patrol agents, the new system is like turning on a light switch along the dark mysterious border. The whole system costs $145 million for the Arizona-Mexico border only. Coupled with drones, who needs a wall? Donald is correct about needing to stop illegal activity crossing the Mexican-US border, but for now victory on this issue goes to the Democrats as long as this new technology ends up working and is quickly spread to the entire border.